(Bloomberg) -- The transfer of one of European soccer's hottest talents could be delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, a brokerage has predicted.
Jadon Sancho may play another season at Borussia Dortmund as a halt to fixtures puts many clubs in a “perilous” financial situation and makes for a subdued summer transfer market, analysts at Joh Berenberg Gossler & Co. said after hosting an online investor event for the German club.
With no pressing financial concerns, Dortmund may prefer to hold onto the 20-year-old in order to preserve his 100 million euro ($108 million) transfer value, analysts Trion Reid and Anna Patrice wrote in a research report. The Englishman has been speculated as being a potential target for Manchester United Plc.
Berenberg's prediction is another example of how Covid-19 has upended the world's most-popular sport. Share prices of the game's top publicly traded teams have plunged since playing seasons were suspended.
Player valuations are also decreasing as contracts run down amid the postponements, CIES Football Observatory warned this week. The consultancy said squads across Europe's five main soccer leagues would lose about 28% -- or 9.3 billion euros -- of their combined transfer value should no games be played before the end of June.
Players at a number of clubs, including Dortmund and Italy's Juventus Football Club SpA, have agreed to take temporary pay cuts during the crisis. U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has urged English Premier League players to do the same.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
